CAMP RIPLEY - Members of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety conducted emergency management training for members of Stevens County Jan. 27-29 at Camp Ripley.
"The facilities on Camp Ripley allowed us a safe training environment for elected officials and first responders from Stevens County," said Joe Kelly, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The Emergency Management Training Center (EMTC) on Camp Ripley is set up to provide an environment to facilitate multi-discipline, multi-agency training and support various disaster exercises.
"The functions of the EMTC varies based on the scope of the scenario, but generally involve the coordination of local government, responding departments and state or federal agencies to the disaster," said Maj. Joseph Sanganoo, operations officer at Camp Ripley.
"This is just the first part of what the Integrated Emergency Management Course can provide," added Kelly.
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An Integrated Emergency Management Course places participants in a realistic crisis situation within a structured learning environment. The training and exercise is tailored around real-life risks and threats. The intent is to build awareness and skills needed to develop and implement policies, plans and procedures for the protection of life and property.
The program available in Minnesota is designed to bring elected and community leaders, decision-makers, responders and whole community partners together to rehearse real-life roles and responsibilities in a realistic emergency situation.
"Integrating all the different departments from Stevens County, we were able to identify additional planning needs while bringing everyone together in our exercises," continued Kelly.
The three-day training event allowed the representatives from Stevens County the opportunity to learn new programs. The trainers from the Department of Public Safety benefitted by executing newly structured criteria.
"The event was an unqualified success, they did a great job," said Kelly. "Our relationship with Camp Ripley and the Minnesota National Guard has made this unique and constructive training very worthwhile."
